Scott's Richmond review: 'approachable' sequel to the Mayfair classic

The original Scott's in Mayfair is from the era of the "oyster room", hinting at the elite's historic love affair with devouring molluscs. Other than dropping those two words from its name, little has changed - it still has all of the old-school glamour that quickly made it a truly iconic London restaurant, as it still is. That made news of a second Scott's opening in Richmond a fascinating prospect, and it's a lavishly impressive sequel.

Why dine here?

You're far less likely to eavesdrop on feuding celebrities in Richmond, which is about as rural and civilised as London gets while still being reachable with an Oyster card. It does place you in a proud period building on a prized bend of the Thames, the kind Turner might paint from a distance and one that any seafood restaurant would give a limb for. 

Inside is as eye-popping as you'd expect from anything in Richard Caring's luxury hospitality empire. I come from a part of London that fetishises exposed brickwork and scuffed furniture that's barely comfortable. But at Scott's, you sink into lichen-hued banquettes near soaring Ionic columns reaching distant ceilings, with mirrored walls displaying colourful Marc Chagall-esque prints. Upstairs, there's more gold and velvet than in a royal palace. 

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And that might not even be the main attraction. There's a lushly planted, all-weather terrace facing the river, tenuously named "the secret garden". That might be stretching the truth, but it can honestly claim to be the most desirable spot in London right now to sip a bone-dry martini and pick at a plateau de fruits de mer. 

The food

Scott's embodies the difference between timelessly fashionable and impulsively trendy. In Scott's world, sea bass ceviche is about as edgy as things get, but it's far more comfortable serving engraved plates of its thickly sliced house smoked salmon – the colour of blood orange – arranged next to bright green spears of al dente British asparagus. 

There's a vegetarian menu and a few simple meat dishes, but there's a reassuring deference to fish here. You've probably got the wrong place if that surprises you. The Cumbrae oysters, as bracing and saline as the Scottish waters they hail from, are treated with the utmost respect: their icy platter placed on a steel halo that floats above the table surface at eye-level, allowing ample room for condiments. 

At £4 each, they're no bargain. But if there is anywhere an oyster deserves a premium price, it is here. You might see a magisterial Dover sole hover around the £50 mark on the menu and flinch, but at £22, fish and chips is at gastropub prices, and most mains are only modestly north of that. 

The catch of the day is always worth consideration. My halibut in a light broth of summer tomato, prawns and clams sounded irresistible and was impeccably cooked but under-seasoned. Perhaps too much deference was shown to these fine ingredients.

But this is a serious place with serious people at work. Save room for dessert, because if it wasn't obvious from everything around you there's a skilled pastry chef working methodically somewhere to compose delicate French confections like a seasonal mille-feuille or a Paris-Brest doused in hot, dark chocolate sauce. Again, there's little attempt to be clever here, but nobody's complaining.

The wine and the service 

If only every restaurant embraced the art of hospitality as well as Scott's. Kevin Lansdown, general manager, a legend among some of London's swankiest restaurants, guarantees an elegantly personalised service. Such was his skill at answering my unhelpfully vague wine brief, that at first I assumed he was the sommelier. The cold, steely 2023 Jean-Pierre Vacher et Fils Sancerre hit all the right flinty notes. 

The verdict

For a heritage name like Scott's, opening a second restaurant is adding pressure. Some might even say it's controversial. But I saw no evidence that its second home is being treated as anything less than equal to its Mayfair parent, and is perhaps a shade more approachable. The bill can unsurprisingly rack up, but don't write it off as a once-in-a-lifetime booking: decent value can be found here, with service befitting any special occasion.